Tonight I will have a skype-in NNR after Moohead around 6PM EDT. Skype me at willsmithdsn to participate.

Clearly the NCAA views an athlete being paid to sign memorabilia is one of the biggest sins in any NCAA sport. When a QB steals crab legs he gets a half game suspension. When he spews obscenities in public, he gets a full game suspension. Even when a player is accused of sexual assault the NCAA seems to turn the other cheek. But when someone is paid for signing memorabilia, the NCAA comes down hard.

The answer is simple. There is no more greedy or selfish an organization in the world than the NCAA. They are so upset when an athlete is paid for anything because it takes money out of their pockets. The NCAA needs to be knocked down several pegs to become what it claims to be—the portal to allow even playing field for amateur sports. But somewhere it lost its way. It has become a focused on growing its power and income.

The growth of super conferences will eventually take the power and money away from the NCAA. The Big 5 power conferences don’t need the NCAA. The sooner they learn that the sports they play and the fans will be better off.

Until then the NCAA will continue to steal money from the colleges and universities around the country.

That is what I think. Tell us what you think by commenting here or tweeting me @NNRonDSN.

NOTE: News, Notes and Rumors podcast are BACK. Check out our thoughts on Fridays about the games coming up and Monday on the results of the weekend. My co-host is Samantha Bunten of NBC Sports. Podcasts can be heard on https://fryingpansports.com/radio-show/. Thanks for your support.

Bill Smith is a former coach of several semi-pro teams, has officiated both football and basketball, done color on radio for college football and basketball and has scouted talent. He edits https://fryingpansports.com. He has also published several novels onand a non-fiction work at http://www.merriam-press.com/. Follow him on twitter @NNRonDSN to get the schedule of Special News, Notes and Rumors broadcasts. You can hear the previous shows on https://fryingpansports.com/radio-show/ and the live show Mondays at 6 PM Eastern time on .

He also edits.

To keep up with the News, Notes & Rumors podcasts, follow me on twitter @NNRonDSN.

On Dec. 5 2013 I asked the question was it time for Ohio State to leave the Big 10. I wrote “All we have heard since the middle of the 2013 season was that Ohio State had no business being part of the BCS Championship discussion. “They don’t play anybody. The Big10 is worse than the American Conference formerly known as the Big East. The Buckeyes have been blasted by SEC teams when they have backed into the Championship game.”

But things have changed for NCAA football and the Little 10. There is now a 4 team playoff system. That is positive. But in the case if the league the changes have not been for the better. The league has added Rutgers and Maryland. Neither of those teams are considered “power” teams.

Despite what University of Michigan people say, if you bought 2 two Coke products you got a pair of tickets to the Michigan Minnesota game at the Little House last Saturday.

Nebraska is the best addition the league has made but has not been a major power for years. Penn State was beginning to rebuild but then was hit with unprecedented penalties by the NCAA. And Iowa can’t even seem to beat Iowa State.

The Buckeyes are the only team in the league that seems to be on the rise. And few college teams have the fan base of the Buckeyes. That fan base alone is enough to build and support a TV network deal. Leaving the Little 10 would also allow the Bucks to replace Minnesota, Purdue and the rest of the leagues’ Sisters of the Perpetually Miserable with good teams with a national reputation.

It is now the time for the Buckeyes to seriously consider leaving the Little 10 and striking out on their own. The writers and pollsters seem to love Notre Dame. The Bucks could win a lot of points by beating ND year after year.

That is what I think. Tell us what you think by commenting here or tweeting me @NNRonDSN.

NOTE: News, Notes and Rumors podcast are on hold until the site is fixed. Thanks for your support and patients.

Bill Smith is a former coach of several semi-pro teams, has officiated both football and basketball, done color on radio for college football and basketball and has scouted talent. He edits https://fryingpansports.com. He has also published several novels onand a non-fiction work at http://www.merriam-press.com/. Follow him on twitter @NNRonDSN to get the schedule of Special News, Notes and Rumors broadcasts. You can hear the previous shows on https://fryingpansports.com/radio-show/ and the live show Mondays at 6 PM Eastern time on .

He also edits.

To keep up with the News, Notes & Rumors podcasts, follow me on twitter @NNRonDSN.

The NCAA is fighting a war for its very survival on several fronts. It is about to get what is coming to it. The first battle comes up this week in a case involving it profiting from the images of the players. Former UCLA basketball player Ed O’Bannon brought this suit which will begin next week. US District Judge Claudia Wilken rebuffed the NCAA by refusing their attempt to keep two suits together. O’Bannon’s suit is based on anti-trust law. The NCAA will have to defend another suit based on video games in 2015.

The defense the NCAA is putting forward is that a decision against it will destroy the current intercollegiate system by taking away its profitability. That is saying “we know we have been wrong for so long but please don’t make us to the right thing.”

But these suits are popcorn money compared to the NLRB declaring that the Northwestern players can form a union. That has the potential to take the control of the money cow out of the hands of the ivy covered professors and into the hands of the student-athletes. Worse yet for the NCAA, the growth of super-conferences has threatened its control of the big money sports. One of these fine days the conferences will realize they don’t need the NCAA to survive and thrive.

For years the NCAA has acted like judge, jury and executioner over universities. It has yielded its iron fist over schools without regard for process or legitimacy. It has been so inconsistent that even the most enthusiastic NCAA fan has to question supporting it.

The bottom line is the NCAA will get what it so richly deserves. It may not be in the O’Bannon suit but it will come. The fat cats drain the colleges’ coffers for the privilege of slapping them in the face for putting cream cheese on a bagel of a recruit. Payback is a bitch.

Bill Smith is a former coach of several semi-pro teams, has officiated both football and basketball, done color on radio for college football and basketball and has scouted talent. He edits https://fryingpansports.com. He has also published several novels onand a non-fiction work at http://www.merriam-press.com/. Follow him on twitter @NNRonDSN to get the schedule of Special News, Notes and Rumors broadcasts. You can hear the previous shows on https://fryingpansports.com/radio-show/ and the live show Mondays at 6 PM Eastern time on .

He also edits.

To keep up with the News, Notes & Rumors podcasts, follow me on twitter @NNRonDSN.

Over 2 years ago here on fryingpansports.com I predicted that the major conferences would put pressure on the NCAA to as Moses said “Let my people go!” Yesterday, which was also the day that the Northwestern players voted on joining a union, the NCAA announced that it was allowing the major conferences “autonomy.” While there are no clear indications exactly how much autonomy the conferences will get, one thing is very certain—the NCAA is admitting it is powerless against these groups.

The fact that the NCAA has had the football playoffs ripped from their dead or dying fingers is an example of money making a difference in the power relationship. The NCAA had no choice. It has overstepped its authority in rule making and issuing punishments. The decisions were inconsistent and caused even supporters to question the process and wisdom of the NCAA’s decision makers.

There is little doubt that the NCAA has lost its way. While it claimed to be looking out for the student-athlete, it was really more interested in covering its own behind and building its power base. It has become known more for its greed than service to those it was designed to help.

So the NCAA is getting its comeuppance. That is way overdue but is very well deserved. Only time will tell if the major conferences will continue to financially support it or not. I hope not. Let them manage the division 1 and 2 sports. That would reduce the staff to a more reasonable level and cut the NCAA down to size. While I would not wish the NCAA on anyone, the less power it has the better it will be for all college sports fans.

Bill Smith is a former coach of several semi-pro teams, has officiated both football and basketball, done color on radio for college football and basketball and has scouted talent. He edits https://fryingpansports.com. He has also published several novels onand a non-fiction work at http://www.merriam-press.com/. Follow him on twitter @NNRonDSN to get the schedule of Special News, Notes and Rumors broadcasts. You can hear the previous shows on https://fryingpansports.com/radio-show/ and the live show Mondays at 6 PM Eastern time on .

He also edits.

To keep up with the News, Notes & Rumors podcasts, follow me on twitter @NNRonDSN.

NOTE: Tonight on NNR Samantha Bunten of NBC Sports, former NFL scout Kelron Sykes and I will do a 7 round draft for the Browns. Join us at 6PM EDT on The Bill Smith Radio Show or https://fryingpansports.com/radio-show/. The show is presented by ebooks-library.com and merriam-press.com.

A couple of years ago I questioned if it was time for the major conferences to pull out of the NCAA. Now the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has thrown an 18 wheel semi into the NCAA mechanism.

Yesterday the NLRB ruled that football players at Northwestern University could form a union to negotiate terms of their “employment.” The University has said it will appeal the decision.

The NCAA has become a money grubbing institution which has lorded over college sports with no consistency or principle. Now the NLRB threatens the very foundation of college sports. The basic law of College football is that the University and NCAA make the money on the backs of the players that provide the product. Colleges sell jerseys with the player‘s number and names, generate millions of dollars from ticket sales and television. The students believe they deserve more than just the right to attend class along with room and board.

While the Northwestern players have not specified what their demands are, health issues seem to be at the heart of the suit. The concept of players forming a union would totally destroy the current system. The NCAA will try to fine any school that provides additional healthcare or payments to players. That will force big schools to leave the NCAA and form their own organization. That would be great for the schools, the players and the fans of college football. The NCAA needs to go out of business and it will without the financial support of the big schools. It is as outdated as the buggy whip and needs to change or die. I prefer the latter.

That is what I think. Tell us what you think.

NOTE: Check out the live News, Notes and Rumors show on Monday, Thursday and Friday at 6 PM Eastern on or https://fryingpansports.com/radio-show/. On Monday Samantha Bunten of NBC Sports and I discuss the results of the weekend. Thursday shows alternate between NFL Draft and basketball. On Friday Tony Williams Giants beat writer for Metro New York joins Samantha and me to preview the upcoming games. The archive is available on https://fryingpansports.com/radio-show/.

Bill Smith is a former coach of several semi-pro teams, has officiated both football and basketball, done color on radio for college football and basketball and has scouted talent. He edits https://fryingpansports.com. He has also published several novels onand a non-fiction work at http://www.merriam-press.com/. Follow him on twitter @NNRonDSN to get the schedule of Special News, Notes and Rumors broadcasts. You can hear the previous shows on https://fryingpansports.com/radio-show/ and the live show Mondays at 6 PM Eastern time on .

He also edits.

To keep up with the News, Notes & Rumors podcasts, follow me on twitter @NNRonDSN.

The NCAA has used an atom bomb to resolve violations of teams in the past. The decision on the Penn State case was a virtual death penalty. Their regulations make the rules of the IRS look like a kid’s book.

But the NCAA gave Oregon just one lost scholarship per year for three years and no ban on the team’s post season participation. To say that was a shock would be an understatement. The fact that Oregon head coach Chip Kelly chose this year to jump to the NFL indicates that he expected a much more drastic penalty. But as usual, the decision reflects more than it appears. The lack of punishment has as much to do with the damage to the reputation of the NCAA and the power struggle between the NCAA and the growing number of super conferences as it does with what happened at Oregon.

The reputation of the NCAA has taken a few hits in recent years. In 2004 the management of the NCAA was dragged before the US Congress to justify its tax exempt status. That was hard enough on the organization’s reputation. Many felt the penalty on Penn State was overly harsh. I do not feel it was given the nature of the crime and the effort to cover it up by the staff.

Perhaps the biggest issue that damaged the rep of the NCAA was the debacle in the investigation of Miami and to some extent to USC. Both of those cases involved cover-ups within the NCAA. There were procedural issues with the Miami case that were so serious that the NCAA had to admit to them publically.

The other pressure on the NCAA is the growth in number and power of the super conferences. That group effectively pushed the NCAA out of the football playoff denying it a voice and share of the profits. There are also public voices questioning the need for the NCAA at all.

For all of those reasons the NCAA decided to pull in the claws and let Oregon off with a slap on the wrist. Is it fair? No. Was it the politically smart thing to do? Yes.

That’s what I think. Tell me what you think.

Bill Smith is a former coach of several semi-pro teams, has officiated both football and basketball, done color on radio for college football and basketball and has scouted talent. He edits https://fryingpansports.com. He has also published several novels onand a non-fiction work at http://www.merriam-press.com/. Follow him on twitter @NNRonDSN to get the schedule of Special News, Notes and Rumors broadcasts. You can hear the previous shows on https://fryingpansports.com/radio-show/.

He also edits .

To keep up with the News, Notes & Rumors podcasts, follow me on twitter @NNRonDSN.